ACROSS THE POND

I’ve not been able to write much recently. This is due to the fact that we moved house on Sunday. Or, rather, I should say we moved the big, heavy items with the help of younger men from our church. For a month before that, we were moving small items ourselves. Now, we still have to clear out our old house. We have a few more days to do that and then things should get back to normal. (Why is my wife laughing hysterically . . . ?)

Moving house later in life is more difficult. Not only is lifting harder, especially after two major back surgeries and my wife’s cancer surgery. But also we have accumulated more. So this has been an opportunity to get rid of some things. We still have a long way to go, though. We must keep working on it.

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President Obama is in England as I write. He’s upset a lot of people by urging the British to stay in the EU. A referendum on the issue is due in two months.

The US president stated that fighting terrorism is more effective within the European Union. This is debatable – the EU allows freedom of movement within the 28-member organization. In itself, this encourages terrorism.

It should be noted that Switzerland is surrounded by the EU, but not a member and has not had one single terrorist incident.

It’s also true that the EU is not a security organization – NATO is. There is no suggestion that Britain leave NATO.

Thirdly, it has always been the case that foreign leaders do not interfere in elections in other countries. Is a new precedent being set here? Can Mr. Cameron now come over to Washington and tell Americans not to vote for Trump?

Having said that, President Kennedy over 50 years ago, encouraged the United Kingdom to join what is now the European Union. The reason is simple – Washington wants a reliable pro-American voice in the world’s biggest single market.

But how would Americans feel if they were part of an Americas Union, bringing all the nations of North and South America together in one bloc? Would they willingly take orders from Havana and Caracas? That’s exactly what the Brits are having to do as members of the EU. Some member countries have lost considerable financial independence, as they have to wait for orders from Berlin. Germany is the dominant power in the EU. The Union is a socialist bloc that tries to control every aspect of daily life. No wonder so many Brits want out. The president should stay out of the debate and leave it to the British people, who have to subsidize the organization from their taxes each and every day.

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The Obamas arrived in London on the Queen’s 90th birthday. They will be having lunch with her on Friday. The official reason for their visit is to honor the Queen. Mrs. Obama has expressed a desire to see the monarch’s grandchildren and great grandchildren. A family photo was released this week showing four generations of monarchs sitting together – Queen Elizabeth and future monarchs Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. A similar picture was taken in the 1890’s of Queen Victoria with her oldest son, grandson and great-grandson (the future Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII).

No other British monarch has ever lived to be 90. Nor has any other monarch reigned as long as the Queen. The Queen’s marriage is also the longest ever royal marriage in history. It’s interesting to note that out of 40 monarchs, the three most prominent ones have all been women, Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II.

Commentators on BBC World yesterday expressed the opinion that the Queen’s longevity and famous devotion to duty owes a great deal to three things – good health, strong faith and Prince Philip, who turns 95 in June. For the first time, a book on her faith is available for people to read. It’s title is The Servant Queen and the King She Serves. Hopefully, it will influence more of her subjects to reject the secular humanism that has brought so many evils into British society and look to Jesus Christ for solutions to their problems. This is equally true for Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In contrast to most world leaders the Queen sees herself as a servant. She is no doubt familiar with the words of Jesus Christ who taught His disciples to be different to the leaders they saw around them.

”But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20: 25-28).

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Pat Buchanan has just written a column on “America’s Imperial Overstretch,” comparing the country’s present state to the last days of the British Empire. Most people today are unaware that when the British monarch was born, the British Empire was the greatest power in the world. At the start of her reign, Britain was still a very powerful country. One of its greatest strengths was the Royal Navy. Now, there are so few ships, there are none available to protect the Falkland Islands from Argentina. Nor are there any to defend Gibraltar. The governments of the two colonies took the unusual step earlier this month of issuing a joint statement reminding potential aggressors (Argentina and Spain) that the United Nations charter calls for the “self-determination of peoples.” The populations of both colonies want to remain British but Britain can’t or won’t defend them.

This is the future Americans have to look forward to – imperial decline on a massive scale.

Note Pat Buchanan’s comments:

“Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, this country has been steadily bled and slowly bankrupted. We are now as overextended as was the British Empire in the 1940s.

“And like that empire, we, too, are being challenged by nations that seek to enlarge their place in the sun — a resurrected Russia, China, Iran. And we are being bedeviled by fanatics who want us out of their part of the world, which they wish to remake according to the visions of their own faiths and ideologies. (“America’s Imperial Overstretch,” 4/14)

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President and Mrs. Obama arrived in England after visiting Saudi Arabia. It was clear the Saudis are upset with the United States. For decades the alliance between the two has been a cornerstone of US foreign policy. Now that the US is cuddling up to Shi’ite Iran, the Saudis feel betrayed. As one commentator put it – they don’t like playing the role of a rejected wife as the husband turns his attention to his new mistress, Tehran! Divorce, however, is not considered an option. It is also the case that many Saudis (maybe most) are more enamored with IS than the US!